How to Talk About Basic Weather Conditions

Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Greek by GreekPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in Greek.

For example, "It's hot." is

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

Martha Asimakis is in sunny Athens.

She’s on a long-distance call with Penelope Tzanakaki , her former colleague, who asks about the current weather.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

καιρός (kerós)

"weather"

καιρός

ζέστη (zésti)

"hot"

ζέστη

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Ready?

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

Once more with the English translation.

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

"How's the weather?"

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

"It's hot."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Penelope asks,

"How's the weather?"

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Let's start with the word καιρός (kerós), "weather." Καιρός . Καιρός."

In Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender. They are also either singular or plural and have a case that depends on the role they’re playing in the sentence.

Καιρός is masculine and singular.

Here, καιρός (kerós) appears in its dictionary form, also known as the nominative form.

Because of this, some other words in the sentence will also be masculine, singular, and in the nominative.

Before this is ο (o), "the." Ο . Ο.

Ο is also masculine singular, and in the nominative case to agree with καιρός (kerós).

Moving to the start of the sentence, πώς (pós), "how." Πώς . Πώς.

Next is είναι (íne), "is." Είναι . Είναι.

Είναι is from the verb είμαι (íme), the dictionary form of the verb "to be." Είμαι.

All together it’s Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?) "How's the weather?"

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Martha says,

"It's hot."

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

Let's start with ζέστη (zésti), "heat." Ζέστη . Ζέστη.

Before this is κάνει (káni), which is from the verb κάνω (káno), meaning "to do." Κάνω.

Here, κάνει (káni) doesn't have this meaning. Instead, it’s expressing an ongoing weather condition — in this case, ζέστη (zésti), "heat."

All together, Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.) "It's hot."

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

The pattern is

Κάνει (Káni) WEATHER CONDITION.

"It's WEATHER CONDITION."

Κάνει WEATHER CONDITION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the WEATHER CONDITION placeholder with the current weather condition.

Note: This pattern requires a noun.

Imagine it’s cold. Κρύο (krío). "Cold." Κρύο . Κρύο.

Say,

"It's cold."

Ready?

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

"It's cold."

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

Not all weather conditions can be described with this pattern, so you'll need other patterns, such as:

Είναι (Íne) WEATHER CONDITION.

"It’s WEATHER CONDITION."

Είναι WEATHER CONDITION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {weather condition} placeholder with a suitable weather condition.

Note: This time, the pattern requires an adjective.

For example, Είναι καλός. (Íne kalós.) "It’s nice." Είναι καλός.

In this lesson, you'll learn adjectives related to the weather that you can use with this pattern, such as καλός (kalós), "nice," and κακός (kakós), "bad."

When talking about the weather, it’s common to use impersonal verbs in Greek. Impersonal verbs are verbs without a fully stated subject and which are conjugated in the third person singular.

For example, "It’s snowing," literally "[It] snows," in Greek is χιονίζει (hionízi). Χιονίζει .

Χιονίζει.

Pay attention. You’ll see another example of this pattern shortly.

Again, the key patterns are

Κάνει (Káni) WEATHER CONDITION.

"It's WEATHER CONDITION."

Κάνει WEATHER CONDITION.

And

Είναι (Íne) WEATHER CONDITION.

"It’s WEATHER CONDITION."

Είναι WEATHER CONDITION.

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

“It’s hot.”

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

“It’s cold.”

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

Είναι καλός. (Íne kalós.)

“It’s nice.”

Είναι καλός. (Íne kalós.)

Είναι κακός. (Íne kakós.)

“It’s bad.”

Είναι κακός (Íne kakós.)

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

“It’s raining.”

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Did you notice how the last speaker used a single word instead of a phrase?

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

"It's raining."

This literally means "[It] rains," but it translates as "It’s raining." Βρέχει . Βρέχει.

Pay attention to this phrase, you’ll need it later in the lesson.

Let's review the new words.

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

"It's raining."

Βρέχει.

Χιονίζει. (Hionízi.)

"It's snowing."

Χιονίζει.

καλός (kalós)

"nice"

καλός

κακός (kakós)

"bad"

κακός

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "hot?"

ζέστη (zésti)

And how Martha Asimakis says,

"It's hot."

Κάνει ζέστη. (Káni zésti.)

Do you remember how to say "weather?"

καιρός (kerós)

And how to say "the weather?"

ο καιρός (o kerós)

Do you remember how to say "how?"

πώς (pós)

Do you remember how Penelope Tzanakaki asks,

"How's the weather?"

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Do you remember how to say "nice"?

καλός (kalós)

And how to say

"It's raining."

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Do you remember how to say, "cold?"

κρύο (krío)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Martha , and you're in Athens, where the weather is nice, or καλός (kalós).

Ready?

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Είναι καλός. (Íne kalós.)

Listen again and repeat.

Είναι καλός. (Íne kalós.)

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Penelope Tzanakaki in Heraklion, and it's raining, or Βρέχει (Vréhi).

Ready?

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Listen again and repeat.

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Pericles' friend Panagiotis Papakonstantinou , and it's cold, or κρύο (krío), in Thessaloniki.

Ready?

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

Listen again and repeat.

Κάνει κρύο. (Káni krío.)

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in Greek. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "hot?"

ζέστη (zésti)

And do you remember how to say,

"It’s hot today, right?"

Ζέστη σήμερα ε; (Zésti símera, e?)

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and it's cold outside.

Do you remember how to say "cold" in Greek?

κρύο (krío)

Now, tell your friend that it's cold.

Κρύο σήμερα ε; (Krío símera e?)

Ναι, όντως. (Ne, óndos.)

Listen again and repeat.

Κρύο σήμερα ε; (Krío símera e?)

On a different occasion you're traveling to Thessaloniki and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and It's raining.

Do you remember how to say "it's raining" in Greek?

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Respond to your friend and say that it's raining.

Πώς είναι ο καιρός; (Pós íne o kerós?)

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Listen again and repeat.

Βρέχει. (Vréhi.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

What's next?

Show us what you can do.

When you're ready, take your assessment.

You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.

Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.

Now you know how to talk about the weather in Greek. That's all there is to it.

Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

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